Outline

Objective

To study the efficacy of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) injection during pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) to facilitate postoperative recovery in patients subjected to PPV.

Methods

Pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) was performed in 22 patients (13 male, 9 female) (14 with retinal detachment; 2 with cystoid macular edema, 2 with diabetic retinopathy, 3 with vitreous haemorrhage and 1 with lens luxation). After surgical separation of the posterior vitreous and removal of any visible epiretinal membrane, TA was injected over the posterior pole. For the control we used 11 patients (9 with retinal detachment, 1 with len’s luxation and 1 with diabetic retinopathy) (6 male, 5 female) treated with PPV but without TA administration. To evaluate the degree of postoperative inflammation and to monitor the dynamics of the blood-aqueous barrier disruption the laser flare cell meter (Kowa FM-500) was used.

Results

Tyndalometric mean values in control eyes recorded 1 day after PPV were 32.6Â±8.1 ph/msec while values in TA-treated group were significantly lower (15.9Â±2.5, p<0.02). 10 days after surgery in TA group results were still significantly lower as compared to the control ( 9.5Â±1.0 vs 37.7Â±12.9, p<0.005). Importantly, as observed 30 days after PPV tydalometric recordings in TA-treated group remained lower as those observed in the control (9.6Â±1.3 vs 31.0Â±11, p<0.01).

Conclusions

The eyes which received TA-assisted PPV showed significantly less breakdown of the blood-ocular barrier than those with routine PPV. Intraoperative administration TA facilitates postoperative recovery after surgery lowering the degree of inflammation.